County Past
Home › Texas › Galveston County

Galveston County, Texas

Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.

—newspaper titles
—digitized titles
84historic places
—earliest paper
1838formed
350,682pop. 2020
33cemeteries
1CW battlefields

At a glance

Summary

The National Register of Historic Places includes 84 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1969; 3 are also National Historic Landmarks. Most listings are in or near Galveston, Texas City, Port Bolivar.

Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.

Newspapers

Library of Congress

Newspaper directory data for Texas is not yet loaded on this site. Browse Galveston titles at the Library of Congress.

National Register of Historic Places

NPS NRHP

65 of 84 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.

84 listed properties
PropertyCityTypeListed
American National Insurance Company (ANICO)GalvestonBuilding2021
Ashbel Smith BuildingGalvestonBuilding1969
Ashton VillaGalvestonBuilding1969
Bayou Brae Historic DistrictLeague CityDistrict2021
Beissner, Henry, HouseGalvestonBuilding1978
Bishop's PalaceGalvestonBuilding1970
Broadway Cemetery Historic DistrictGalvestonDistrict2014
Building at 1921-1921 1/2 Avenue DGalvestonBuilding1984
Building at 1925-1927 Market StreetGalvestonBuilding1984
Cedar Lawn Historic DistrictGalvestonDistrict2002
Christensen CastleSanta FeBuilding2025
City HallGalvestonBuilding1984
City National BankGalvestonBuilding1984
Congregation Beth JacobGalvestonBuilding2024
Davison, Frank B., HouseTexas CityBuilding1976
Denver Court Historic DistrictGalvestonDistrict2002
ELISSA NHLGalvestonStructure1978
East End Historic District NHLGalvestonDistrict1975
Eiband'sGalvestonBuilding1984
Falstaff BreweryGalvestonBuilding2018
First Evangelical Lutheran ChurchGalvestonBuilding1984
First Presbyterian ChurchGalvestonBuilding1979
Fort TravisPort BolivarDistrict2005
Galveston CausewayGalvestonStructure1976
Galveston Orphans HomeGalvestonBuilding1979
Galveston SeawallGalvestonStructure1977
Galveston US Post Office, Custom House and CourthouseGalvestonBuilding2001
Galveston, Houston & Henderson (GH&H) Freight DepotGalvestonBuilding2020
Galvez HotelGalvestonBuilding1979
Garten Verein PavilionGalvestonStructure1977
Grace Episcopal ChurchGalvestonBuilding1975
Grand Opera HouseGalvestonBuilding1974
Hagemann, John, HouseGalvestonBuilding1982
House at 2017-2023 Avenue IGalvestonBuilding1984
House at 2528 Postoffice St.GalvestonBuilding1984
Hutchings, Sealy, HouseGalvestonBuilding1994
I.O.O.F. LodgeGalvestonBuilding1984
Illies Building-Justine ApartmentsGalvestonBuilding1995
Jean Lafitte HotelGalvestonBuilding1984
Kempner, Daniel Webster, HouseGalvestonBuilding1979
Lasker Home for Homeless ChildrenGalvestonBuilding1983
Levy, E.S., BuildingGalvestonBuilding2003
Lost Bayou Historic DistrictGalvestonDistrict2017
Marschner BuildingGalvestonBuilding1984
McKinney-McDonald HouseGalvestonBuilding1976
Melrose Apartment BuildingGalvestonBuilding1998
Menard, Michel B., HouseGalvestonBuilding1976
Merimax BuildingGalvestonBuilding1985
Model LaundryGalvestonBuilding1984
Moore, Col. Hugh B. and Helen, HouseTexas CityBuilding1994
Mosquito Fleet Berth, Pier 19GalvestonStructure1975
Old Galveston CustomhouseGalvestonBuilding1970
Parkland ApartmentsGalvestonDistrict2022
Pix BuildingGalvestonBuilding1984
Point Bolivar LighthousePort BolivarStructure1977
Powhatan HouseGalvestonBuilding1975
Quigg-Baulard HouseGalvestonBuilding2015
Reedy Chapel-AME ChurchGalvestonBuilding1984
Robinson BuildingGalvestonBuilding1984
Rosenberg LibraryGalvestonBuilding1984
Rosewood CemeteryGalvestonSite2024
SS SELMA (steamship)GalvestonSite1994
Scottish Rite CathedralGalvestonBuilding1984
Sealy, George, HouseGalvestonBuilding1969
Shaw, M. W., BuildingGalvestonBuilding1984
Silk Stocking Residential Historic DistrictGalvestonDistrict1996
St. Joseph's ChurchGalvestonBuilding1976
St. Mary's CathedralGalvestonBuilding1973
Star Drug StoreGalvestonBuilding1984
Steffens-Drewa House ComplexGalvestonBuilding1988
Strand Historic District, The NHLGalvestonDistrict1970
Stringfellow OrchardsHitchcockBuilding2013
Sweeney-Royston HouseGalvestonBuilding1978
Texas BuildingGalvestonBuilding1984
Texas Heroes MonumentGalvestonObject1984
The Settlement Historic DistrictTexas CityDistrict2010
Trinity Protestant Episcopal ChurchGalvestonBuilding1979
Trueheart-Adriance BuildingGalvestonBuilding1971
U.S. National BankGalvestonBuilding1984
USS CAVALLA (submarine)GalvestonStructure2008
USS HATTERAS (41GV68)GalvestonSite1977
USS STEWARTGalvestonStructure2007
Williams, Samuel May, HouseGalvestonBuilding1971
Willis-Moody MansionGalvestonBuilding1994

Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.

County formation

Newberry AHCB

Galveston was formed in 1838 (1838-05-15) from Brazoria, Harrisburg, Liberty.

GALVESTON created by the Republic of Texas from BRAZORIA, HARRISBURG (now HARRIS), and LIBERTY.

Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

Population by decade

Census

Galveston County population from 1850 to 2020 (Census historical series).

351k178k4,5291850188019201940196020002020
18501860188019001920194019501960198020002020
4,5298,22924,12144,11653,15081,173113,066140,364195,940250,158350,682

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.

Cemeteries & historical places

USGS GNIS

33 cemeteries and 0 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.

Cemeteries — 33 of 33 listed
NameLatLon
Alta Loma Cemetery29.35137-95.08874
Arcadia Cemetery29.42826-95.11326
B'Nai Israel Cemetery29.27211-94.82883
Barbers Chapel Cemetery29.35906-95.01547
Beguin - Opitz Cemetery29.35462-95.03088
Beth Jacob Cemetery29.27182-94.82839
Calvary Catholic Cemetery29.27303-94.83083
Evergreen Cemetery29.29371-94.81412
Fairview Cemetery29.51773-95.09604
Galveston Memorial Park Cemetery29.35408-95.00637
Grace Memorial Cemetery29.36385-95.05798
Greek Cemetery29.27348-94.82952
Hebrew Benevolent Society Cemetery29.29279-94.81394
Hitchcock Cemetery29.3569-95.00715
La Marque Cemetery29.3644-94.95409
Lakeview Cemetery29.27204-94.82533
Magnolia Cemetery29.48523-95.14993
Mainland Memorial Cemetery29.34829-95.00215
Mainland Memorial Cemetery29.34773-94.99993
Memorial Cemetery29.27081-94.82664
Mount Olivet Cemetery29.43607-95.07465
Municipal Cemetery29.27203-94.82729
New City Cemetery29.29294-94.81341
Old Catholic Cemetery29.2931-94.81274
Old City Cemetery29.2942-94.81198
Oleander Cemetery29.29397-94.81302
Phillips Memorial Cemetery29.38496-94.97604
Port Bolivar Cemetery29.41607-94.71075
Rising Star Cemetery29.37551-94.97687
Rosewood Cemetery29.2677-94.82964
Saints Constantine and Helen Serbian Orthodox Cemetery29.27148-94.82817
Texas City Memorial Cemetery29.40829-94.9377
Trinity Episcopal Cemetery29.29336-94.81174

Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.

Civil War battlefields nearby

ABPP

American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) Civil War study areas near this county.

BattlefieldStudy acresDist.Site ID
Galveston20,94811.7 kmTX003

Source: NPS American Battlefield Protection Program Civil War Study Areas (public ArcGIS feature service).

Historical markers

HMdb link

Marker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.

Search HMdb for Galveston County, Texas

Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.